Violence Against Women Act: Pakistan

Mohammed Hanif, a Pakistani author and journalist, has recently discussed the law passed to preserve women’s rights. The law, preventing violence against women, has been authorized and declares a total dismissal of domestic abuse against women. Further, the law will institute legal proceedings on the culprit and even ask to wear a GPS-monitored bracelet. The offender will also be prohibited to buy guns or other harmful weapons. They focus on initiating a women’s hotline to report such an act immediately. It comes across as another step towards women empowerment.

shariya, the religious text of Muslims

However, this isn’t a consensual act as a major population stands in opposition of it. From religious groups to the old men, all are suggestive of a unanimous denial of this law as the patriarchal society has long observed the men in the house as power structures. Women have seen a longish submission to all these superstructures and have undergone not only mental but a physical passivity too. The religious text shariah is said to observe the act of domestic violence as acceptable in the name of masculine power.

Where on one hand there is a wide open space for women, full of opportunities, on the other one sees this refutation of exercising their rights. The repercussions of such a law are street protest and a story of it being against the culture.

a picture of Malala

The world has seen how the Muslim Pakistani girl, Malala Yousafzai, fought against the terrorists and showed the cosmos the power of a young girl. She became a representative of many other females who wanted to conquer the world but were hopeless.

Women today, are not only feminists, but they assert their individuality. From coming out of working on high posts with meagre wages, they have now understood how they can’t be engendered. A UN survey also suggested how women can work 4 times more than men.

Hanif also argues how there are several feminist men as well. They let their sisters go out, they respect their wives and believe in an egalitarian society. However, it seems these men are the most hurt with the GPS monitoring as hanif reports them saying: “See, I have never stopped my sister from going to school, never given my girlfriend a black eye. That makes me a feminist, right? But we must protect our families. You don’t want a family-loving feminist man going around with a GPS tracker, do you?”

Women who today are not afraid of making them known to the world, who respect the culture but want to transcend the social boundaries, are too scared of what happens to them in their private sphere. It is thus a major drawback of this law that it isn’t supported by its citizens.

(Megha is a student at the University of Delhi. She is pursuing her masters in English and has done her studies in German Language.) GMAIL- loveme2010.ms@gmail.com

Definition of being behind on the laundry: When you find yourself seriously considering wearing a Halloween costume to work.

I expected my wife to veto the idea, but she was okay with it, saying: “It’s not what you wear that counts, but whether you can carry it off.”

Mind you, this was a phone conversation and so she couldn’t see what I was wearing. In the event, going to work in a killer clown outfit was not as bad as it might have been, and the fake bloodstains on the costume proved advantageous. Fellow passengers quickly gave me a seat on the bus — actually, a whole block of seats.

The main (and possibly only) advantage of marriage for guys is that we are given full-time aides (“wives”) who generally prevent us going out looking too ridiculous. Men lack the enzyme which processes self-awareness, which is why we think we look good in Speedos.

Proof: In my true-crime file is a report about a criminal fugitive on the run in Japan who disguised himself in a girls’ sailor suit school uniform. Since he was a tall man with massive shoulders, he managed to evade detection for only minutes.

Definition of being behind on the laundry: When you find yourself seriously considering wearing a Halloween costume to work. Wikimedia Commons

Another true story: Last year, a pair of bank robbers decided to dress as women to scope out a bank in Thomasville, Florida. The result was the opposite of what they expected: They became the centre of attention, of course.

It is really hard for men to dress convincingly as females as we lack the two main things that make a woman a woman — good taste, and the ability to walk with our feet clamped in instruments of torture known as “lady’s shoes”.

There’s one exception which proves my point. In November last year, the coach of the Thailand women’s kabaddi team was dismayed to find out that males were banned from attending women’s sports events in Iran, where his team was playing. So he wrapped his head in a female scarf and marched straight in.

He fooled nobody but correctly judged that the women would be too nice to throw him out. Smart guy.

Our UK correspondent shared a sad news item about a group of men who raised money for their local hospital by dressing as nurses and pushing a bed around town. The hospital refused to accept the cash as they said it was considered politically incorrect for men to dress as nurses these days.

It is really hard for men to dress convincingly as females as we lack the two main things that make a woman a woman. Wikimedia Commons

This seems unfair, as I have seen marathon runners dressed as bananas, dinosaurs and Q-Tips without complaint from fruit sellers, palaeontologists or people who like to poke things in their ears.

But the political issues surrounding women’s clothes are complex. In 2011 someone organised a “slutwalk” in Canada. This involved scantily-clad females marching down the road with protest banners. When the Slutwalk arrived in Asia, the women were fully covered up and many of the marchers were male; so the event missed the point, a bit like the Animal Rights Barbecue that a friend of mine once tried to organise.